BlueChip Energy failure leaves solar-power customers up in air

Homeowners wonder about safety of solar panels

When BlueChip Energy failed this year, banks that made loans to the Lake Mary solar-power company weren't the only ones left in the lurch.

About 300 customers who paid $20,000 to $40,000 for rooftop solar packages worry that they'll be stuck with solar panels that could be unusable or even unsafe. The homeowners, many of them in Central Florida, don't know whether they should keep the panels, which now have no warranty and were falsely sold as safe, court records show.

Taxpayers in general may take a hit as well: A $1.8 million federal stimulus grant may be lost in the company's financial failure.

"I believed in the technology, but it's unfortunate that I don't know how the panels will last," said Attilio Di Marco, who has a $42,000 system on the roof of his Longwood home. "For all I know, they could start overheating, or who knows?

"The sad thing is, this is a good industry taking off now that could do a lot for the environment, but it makes it hard for the consumer to know what to do," Di Marco said.

Another customer, Tuyet Le of Orlando, still owes $22,000 for a system installed at her home in October. "I'm still nervous," she said. "I don't know what else I'm supposed to do, or if it's legal to keep it there, but I want to continue using the panels."

BlueChip Energy, which also operated as Advanced Solar Photonics and SunHouse Solar, manufactured solar panels and solar-electricity packages. It also planned to build a massive solar farm in Lake County. But the company failed this past spring, awash in millions of dollars of debt. Its assets were sold at auction this month for $700,000.

Sales agents marketed the solar-electricity systems at the Seminole Towne Center in Sanford, at environmental festivals in Orlando and at a home show at the Orange County Convention Center.

At least half the customers also applied for rebates through their utilities, primarily Florida Power & Light and Progress Energy, which is now Duke Energy Florida, state records show.

The solar panels not only provide electricity for the home, but any excess electricity produced can be fed back into the power grid, with customers earning money back from the utility.

Homeowners' biggest concern is whether the panels are legitimate. Some solar panels had a counterfeit Underwriters Laboratories seal, meaning that they were falsely sold as having the industry-required safety approval. Without the safety testing, they shouldn't be connected to the electric grid.

Phillip Fairey, deputy director of the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa, said owners should file complaints with the state Attorney General's office for consumer fraud. But it's unclear whether the panels actually pose a risk.

"We're not in a good position to give advice for what customers could do," Fairey said. "There is no guarantee there is anything wrong. But there is no guarantee that there's not."

Officials with FPL and Duke Energy said they are leaving it up to their customers to research the matter but haven't required anyone to remove the systems. The state Attorney General's office is still researching the fraud complaints.

That leaves customers worried about keeping a solar-electricity system that now has no warranty and may pose a risk. UL testing assures that a product won't catch fire, will conduct electricity properly and can withstand weather. Without such testing, no one is certain if the solar panels may fail.

Robert Andrescik had a system installed at his Winter Springs home in September 2012 that cuts his electricity bill in half each month, adding up to $800 saved in a year's time.

"Our panels work great. I just hate for people to think they don't," he said. "But we're just all waiting for an answer as to what we're supposed to do."

Meanwhile, the company is still liable for a $1.8 million stimulus grant it received from the Treasury Department last year. It's unclear whether any of that money will go back to the government.

The majority of the grant had been paid to Advanced Solar Photonics in May 2012 as reimbursement for construction of a solar array of 5,400 rooftop panels atop the company's Lake Mary plant, records show. The array was sold during the recent auction for $160,000.

Federal records show that BlueChip, or the purchaser of those panels, may be liable for repaying the funds. Recipients must maintain the panels for five years and must report on the project to federal officials annually. Treasury officials couldn't comment on whether they are seeking repayment of the grant.